Album Review: Lil Yachty – Lil Boat 2

Lil Yachty cannot disappoint me. My expectations for him are lower than low. After his 2017 debut Teenage Emotions flopped, the Atlanta digi-crooner left much to be desired. Although the first Lil Boat tape had flashes of fringe rap elements, overall it was a novelty project. Despite this, I enjoyed it for the most part. However, following his debut, Yachty’s stock has plummeted. He grew his fan base from SoundCloud. In that regard, he is a pioneer. Unfortunately, Lil Yachty fails to make use of his torch. He has neither passed it nor held it strong. Last year’s album was so bad, it exposed his artistry. He simply dropped the torch altogether. Rather than take his time to dig himself out of the hole he created, Yachty chose otherwise. His second album in two years, Lil Boat 2, pushes the flex rapper closer to irrelevance, though he remains quite popular.

Yachty deserves his fan base. His catchy melodic skills once separated him from his peers. Tracks like “Broccoli,” “1Night,” and “Minnesota” started a wave. I must give him credit for that. Nevertheless, his albums have so far lacked authentic stickiness. This follow-up is a boring record filled with sheep-like trap tracks. None of these songs have identity. Every bar here reeks of utter redundancy. Freak hoes, big guns, and endless cash drill into listeners’ ears. It is as if Yachty restricts himself from rapping about anything else. Additionally, Lil Boat has lost his touch in the melody department. Instead of giving fans infectious hooks, he attempts to rap like a gangster. I don’t know about you, but that’s not why I’d listen to Lil Yachty. He continues to pick styles a plethora of rappers already dominate.

This frustrates me. Listening to current Yachty reminds me of so many other phase rappers. They’re here for about four years, then they fade away forever. If he carries on this path of rushed albums, Lil Yachty will be yet another forgotten name. Trap music moves much too fast for artists to drop lackluster projects back to back. Yachty is a novelty act at this point. However, I understand why he wanted to drop another album. It makes sense to rack up stream numbers whilst brewing better material. Conversely, this album is subpar at best. A few features do well, including Ugly God, Tee Grizzley, and 2 Chainz. Their performances aren’t nearly enough to save this album nonetheless. Time is ticking on Lil Yachty’s stardom. While he eats off endorsement deals, I’ll be waiting to hear “What ever happened to Lil Yachty?” umpteen months down the line.